If for whatever reasons an instructor has decided to offer
instruction using the modality of hybrid/blended instruction then
thereupon follow some very important issues that need to be confronted
and questions to be answered. The instructor should be familiar
with and have seriously considered the basic materials on online
instruction. Some of the most significant of these are supplied
immediately below and then followed by the most important or the central
issue for hybrid/blended instruction, namely what to place into each
component of the instructional design: the face to face setting and the
online environment. This most basic question will be addressed
further at that point below where you will find:
The Biggest Decision in Hybrid Course
Development -Philip Pecorino

Instructional Design - the systematic process for
preplanning and organizing all resources, learning activities,
communications mechanisms, and feedback and assessment activities
necessary to result in active student learning.

Active Learning -Student learning occurs because of what the
learners themselves do, not necessarily because of what the professor
does. Learning requires frequent cognitive engagement and is dependent
upon the level of effort put into it. At its most basic level, learning
is a process of acquiring new information, thinking about it, reflecting
upon its meaning, and then applying it to the real world to test its
validity.

Andragogy - the art and science of helping adults learn, as
opposed to Pedagogy, the art and science of teaching children.
Whereas pedagogy is teacher focuses, andragogy is learner centered.
Adults have some unique characteristics which influence how they learn.
Specifically, they tend to:

Instructional Interaction - The flow of communications and
activities within the structure of a course. There are three primary
types of interaction; 1) interaction between the professor and students,
such as discussions, 2) interaction between students, such as group
assignments, peer tutoring, and socializing, and 3) interaction between
students and information resources, such as active reading of the
textbook, research assignments in the library, or searching the
internet. A well-designed course should utilize all three forms of
instructional interaction.

Learning Guidance - Advice given by the professor to help
students in their learning efforts. This could be specific advice, such
as mnemonics to help memorize specific information or techniques for
highlighting important concepts in their readings; or more generalized
advice such as good resources to explore for term paper topics,
recommendations to the writing center, etc.

Feedback -Informal but frequent advice given to specific students
as to the quality of their performance with recommendations to help
improve their learning. The purpose of feedback is to help guide and
direct students efforts to meet specific learning outcomes. . Feedback
should encourage students to think and reflect upon their learning and
to adjust their application of it to the real world. Feedback can
include encouragement, and can also be provided by fellow students.

Assessment - Formal judgment as to the quality of a student’s
performance (grades). Assessment can take many forms beyond traditional
paper and pencil tests, but all assessments should strive for relevance,
authenticity, and fairness. Most importantly, they must be tied directly
to the course objectives.

Student Learning Outcomes - general statements as to what a
student should know and be able to do at the completion of instruction.
They should reflect the knowledge, skills and abilities that a student
will gain in the course.

Instructional Objectives - are specific statements derived from
student learning outcomes which address three components of learning:
conditions under which the learning will take place, the
performance that the student will engage in to demonstrate mastery
of the objective, and the standards which will be applied to
evaluate the quality of the performance. Instructional objectives can be
utilized in two ways:

Terminal Objectives - which reflect the outcomes for each major topic
in the course.

Enabling Objectives - which reflect the various steps, components,
and background knowledge that must be learned in order to master the
terminal objective.

You owe it to yourself and your students to define what it is
they are suppose to know and be able to do by taking your course.
Student learning outcomes are required as part of the curriculum
proposal for your course, you should review these and ensure that
they are being met in your course design.

Derive a series of instructional objectives from these
student-learning outcomes. This will insure that the course content
is defined in terms of student learning. Avoid designing a course
based upon tradition or based upon instructor convenience, maintain
a focus on student learning.

Classify your objectives as either terminal (what they really are
trying to achieve) or enabling (what they need to know to get
there). There should be at least one terminal objective for each
major topic in the course. Ensure that all necessary enabling
objectives are listed for each terminal objective.

When writing objectives, keep in mind the level of learning
(knowledge, understanding, application, critical thinking) you are
trying to achieve for that objective, and ensure that the
performance statement of the objective reflects that level.

Once all objectives have been defined, then use them as the
backbone for your course design.

2. Design a strong structure for your course that provides:

Resources - the information that is necessary for acquiring new
information. If possible utilize a variety of media and sources,
including textbooks, videos, computer tutorials, web pages,
interviews, guest speakers, etc.

Logical Sequencing - of both the instructional objectives and the
content. Remember, by definition, enabling objective must be taught
before terminal objectives. Content should be broken down and
"chunked" into an amount that is manageable for the level of
understanding your students are at. Sequence content from simple to
complex, concrete to abstract.

Continuing communications - Provide plenty of opportunities to
ask questions and encourage an open atmosphere. Encourage students
to communicate with each other outside of class and to help each
other out.

Documentation - Communicate the course structure through some
form of documentation, such as the course syllabus, or via a course
management system such as SLN or Coursespace. Ensure that all the
objectives, content outlines, assignments and due dates are clearly
communicated to the student. There should be no doubt in their mind
as to what they are suppose to do on a given day and what is
expected of them.

3. Design activities to promote active learning:

Provide for all three types of interaction - Try to incorporate
the three types of interaction as often as possible. This provides
both variety and the opportunity for students to be come more
engaged in the material and with each other.

Provide activities that allow for cognitive engagement and
processing – give them time to reflect, provide opportunities to
discuss and contemplate, allow them to practice when appropriate and
provide encouragement and guidance to keep them engaged.

4. Provide learning guidance and feedback:

Provide plenty of feedback throughout each lesson to correct
discrepancies and misunderstandings, and give encouragement.

Provide guidance for further learning - tips to students to help
them study, additional resources for further information, sources
for additional help such as learning centers, etc.

Encourage peer interaction as a means of feedback. This will
provide students with a variety of viewpoints, is perceived as
credible, and can be highly motivating. However, monitor this
activity to ensure that the feedback is valid.

Use a variety of assessment techniques and use them frequently.
Don’t rely on only a midterm and final, and don’t rely on only
multiple-choice tests.

Make your assessment relevant to the objectives you are trying to
achieve; for example, if you are trying to achieve a level of
critical thinking, then assess the students’ ability to analyze,
synthesize or create through term papers, presentations or creative
works.

Ensure that your assessments reflect both the performance and
standards that were defined in the instructional objective.

Strive for student mastery of all the objectives, rather than
grading "on the curve".

6. Utilize Andragogy as a basis for course design

Require students to take greater responsibility for their
learning

Provide opportunities for leadership

Relay on their life experience to provide greater depth of
discussion, have them provide examples

Utilize small group activities and peer review to provide
communications/ feedback/ learning guidance. Let the students teach
themselves.

What can you assume about the number, age, background and
motivation levels of your students?

What is the setting of your course? What equipment/resources will
be available? Will student services (library, learning center, etc.)
be available to your students when they are meeting face to face?

What are the time and scheduling constraints of your course? Will
you be meeting weekly? What is the typical time block for face-to-face
meetings? Will there be opportunities for students to get together
outside of class?

2. List your instructional objectives and classify them as either
terminal or enabling. Utilize them in an appropriate manner for your
learners in your course design.

Enabling objectives tend to address the knowledge/understanding
levels of learning. This may give you leeway on how the objectives can
be taught. After analysis of your audience, ask yourself:

Can you safely assume that your students will already know the
content of some enabling objectives? If so, then the material can be
eliminated.

Are the students somewhat familiar with the content of the
objectives? If so, then consider brief reviews of the material rather
than in depth teaching of it.

Enabling objectives focused on the knowledge/understanding levels
of learning tend to make up the information acquisition phase of the
learning process. This lends itself well to solo learning/structured
homework assignments. Make these required assignments and use them as
prerequisites for the in-class work. Use them as a substitution for
lectures. Structure these homework assignments to ensure that students
complete them and have the opportunity for questions and feedback.

Terminal objectives by definition consist of the most important
topics of the course. Utilize your valuable face-to-face class time to
work on these objectives. Draw upon your adult students motivation and
self-disciple to master the enabling objectives prior to class.

3. Design in-class time to maximize interpersonal interactions.

Emphasize class discussions over lecture. Provide plenty of
opportunities for questions and answers.

Try small group assignments or projects. Have your groups organize
themselves in class and then encourage them to work together to
complete the project outside of class.

Provide opportunities for peer review of students work. Provide for
class presentations and follow up discussions.

4. Carefully design your outside activities.

Activities conducted outside of class must be carefully designed
and supported with clear instructions, resources, and communications
and feedback mechanisms.

Experiential activities for hybrid courses should aim at the higher
(i.e. application and critical thinking) levels of learning.

Activities can be designed as a culminating activity, that is, a
major project for the purpose of demonstrating the new knowledge or
skills developed by the student as a result of taking the course.
Examples include large term papers, presentations, group projects, or
creative products.

Consider dividing your culminating activity into subparts with
students submitting components of the activity throughout the semester
rather than leaving everything for the end of the semester. For
example with a term paper, have students identify the topic by the
third week, provide a thesis statement the fourth week, submit a
bibliography the fifth week, outline of the content by the sixth week,
and a preliminary draft by the seventh week. Give students feedback
and guidance at each step. This will result in a better product from
the student, allows you to track their progress in the experiential
activities, and allows you to compare the equivalency of the
assignment to in-class work.

Provide detailed guidelines for experiential activities, including
any assessment criteria that will be applied to the product of their
activity.

5. Use technology to provide structure, communications and feedback
to augment or supplant class activities.

Coursespace can be utilized to provide structure, resources,
communications and feedback for your students to guide them in their
out-of-class learning activities.

Divide your course into logical modules and then structure your
course in the course management system to reflect this design. Provide
all necessary orientation and syllabus materials and all other
instructional resources from within this course structure.

Instructional resources can consist of, but are not limited to:
written lectures, reading assignments, links to other web sites,
threaded discussions, written assignments, or attached digital files
such as spreadsheets.

Use online testing to provide quizzes over reading assignments.
This will motivate students to keep up with the readings and will
provide you with information as to how well prepared they are before
class.

Areas within the course database allow for private communications
between individual student and instructor, or public communications
among all members of the class. Use these capabilities to keep
continuous communications and interactions going outside of class.

Within Coursespace, small groups can be set up for peer review and
group work. This will allow your students to work together without
having to be physically present in one location outside of class.

Coursespace or other web-based technology can be used to provide
structure and guidance for experiential activities.

Online activities and assignments can be used as a "bridge" between
class meetings to keep your students actively engaged in the course.

All online activities will be archived for a period, allowing for
student review and instructor analysis of performance.

6. Revise your course after completing the semester.

Gather student comments and look at their performance data to guide
you in any necessary revisions.

However, don’t make any major revisions while students are in the
course. This will just lead to confusion. Carefully think through the
course design before the semester starts and then stick with it. If
something doesn’t work, then revise it for the following semester

Keep in mind that courses evolve over time, and that there is no
ideal, perfect design.

Make your revisions at the end of the semester while they are fresh
in your mind, rather than putting them off until the last minute.

One of the foundations of instructional design is Robert Gagné's concept
of the events of instruction. All good instruction, according to Gagné,
requires a set of external events designed to support the internal
processing of learning. He has identified a set of nine events listed
below in the order in which they are usually utilized:

Gaining Attention - Alerts and prepares students to receive new
information.

Informing the learner of the objective - Communicates the aim
of the learning and helps students to focus in on the critical
information and to prepare to practice it.

Stimulating recall of prerequisite learning - Reviewing any
necessary prerequisite concepts, principles, or procedures so they are
fresh in the students' mind.

Presenting the stimulus material - In this step the new
information is first presented. New information can be presented in a
variety of media to engage different student's learning style
preferences; and it can be presented utilizing a variety of examples,
to compensate for a variety of backgrounds and interests among the
students.

Provide learning guidance - Hints, questions, suggestions
provided by a teacher to help guide the student to discovery and
understanding of the new concept, principle or procedure being
learned. Note, this is not "telling the student the answer", rather it
is guiding the student to the answer. Learning guidance requires a
insightful and individualized approach to each student, therefore it
is the one event that most heavily depends upon the knowledge and
skill of the teacher.

Eliciting the performance - Practice is necessary in order for
new information to be reinforced to the point that it becomes
integrated into the student's knowledge structure.

Providing feedback about performance - Providing feedback as to
the correctness or degree of correctness is necessary after the
performance to ensure that the student's new knowledge is accurate.
Feedback should be given as quickly as possible after the performance
to ensure that misunderstood information is not integrated into the
student's knowledge structure. For higher level objectives relating to
application, analysis, or synthesis, feedback usually more extensive
and requires an individualized approach.

Assessing the performance - Once the student has had the
opportunity to practice and refine the newly acquired knowledge, some
form of formal assessment is presented to test the ability of the
student to retrieve (and often apply) the new knowledge. This is done
to help reinforce the student's new knowledge, and to see if the
student has mastered the objective and therefore is ready to move onto
the next topic. Assessment can also be used to test the effectiveness
of the instruction itself by identifying areas of the instruction that
failed to adequately insure learning. Again, higher levels of
objectives may require an individual evaluation of the learning by the
teacher.

Enhancing retention and transfer - To encourage students in
retaining what they have learned, students should be provided with
follow on activities that helps them put the new learning in context.
Proving them with a variety of new problems, case studies, or
practical applications as a concluding event will help them recall the
new knowledge in a meaningful context.

We often assume that event #4. Presenting the stimulus material, is
what instruction is all about. However, without events #1 -3, students
will not be prepared to receive the new information, nor without events
#5 -9 will they retain or apply the new learning. Therefore, the entire
cycle of the events of instruction is critical to promote learning.

Also note that events #5, 7, and to a certain degree #8 all rely upon
the intervention of a skilled teacher. All the other events can be
structured and presented through various forms of media and technology,
but #s 5,7,8 require the intervention of a human's critical judgment.

If you have read and carefully considered the materials on online
course development then you are ready to make some important decisions.
Perhaps you have made them already. These involve the uses for the
online component or the class website and what you will set
out to accomplish in the classroom with and through direct contact and
what you want to accomplish online using the course management program (CMP). No matter how these
decisions are first made they can and probably will be changed from
semester to semester as you assess what has worked and what has not. As you learn more about use of websites
and Distance Learning and Learner Centered techniques you may want to
incorporate more online learning experiences for your class. At
times an instructor new to the online modalities for instruction might
place either too much of a load on the online component or activities
inappropriate for the online component, e.g., due to the
backgrounds of the instructor or the learners or due to the technical or
instructional support services available for the learners and then
need to make an adjustment moving some of the online activities back
into the face to face component-the classroom.

BE CAREFUL!!!!

The online component can easily become an entire course unto itself
in terms of content and time for both the instructor and the learner.
The instructor has a difficult task of designing the online and face to
face (ftf) components in a manner that does not produce more work and
time consumption for both instructor and learners than would a standard class with a responsible instructor and
responsible
learner.

In some ways it is easier for an
instructor who has taught a class that is totally online with no face to
face meetings to make the decision of what components of the class to
place online and which to keep for the face to face setting than it is
for an instructor with no online instructional experience at all.
The reason for this claim is that the novice to instructional experience
has no direct knowledge of how much can be placed into the online
component nor of what can be better accomplished online than in the face
to face environment. There are apt to be significant alterations after
reviewing the results form the first attempts at hybrid/blended class
design and instruction.

Assessment

A good instructional design will include
a variety of assessments:

of the learning objectives of the
students by the instructor

of the instructional design by the
learners for the instructor

of the instructor's management of the
instructional program by the learners for the instructor

The instructor should record such
assessments and use them in the revision of the instructional design,
class content and class management plan for the next semester in which
the class is to be offered using the hybrid/blended modality for
instruction. The instructor should make review and revision of the
class content, design, management and assessment part of the regular
practice of instruction. When this is done the process of research
and development of more effective pedagogy becomes part of the
repertoire of the instructor.

So now to the central questions.

1.

What use to make of the
class website?

Will it be

web assisted instruction with the website as a place for course
syllabi, calendars etc

the website as a place for exercises and practice exams

as a medium for some instruction

as a medium to reinforce classroom instruction

as a medium to provide for checks on outside of class activities,
assignments

as a primary medium for instruction

as a primary medium for instruction and assessment

2. What specifically will be done in the classroom and what to do online?

There are a number of different models or
variations on the instructional design for a hybrid/blended class. The
table below illustrates but a few of them and a danger.

So now to the decision and some suggestions.
It is not possible in this short work to cover the many possible
combinations that exist of reasons for selection of the blended /hybrid
mode with the backgrounds of instructors and the types of learners and
institutional settings for instruction. What is offered are a few
simple and general suggestions for approaching the instructional design of
a blended class/program of instruction.

Getting Started: Some suggestions

Route One to Blended Instruction: from
Standard/traditional to Blended (partly online)

This is perhaps the most difficult approach
to hybrid or blended instruction as most instructors with no experience
of online and distance education would have the least awareness of what
can be accomplished through the modalities of instruction at a distance.
The instructor on this route might be further challenged by the
migration from the instructor centered to the learner centered
model for instruction. For someone on this route the information
and advice supplied in the sections above should be read and understood
through discussions with instructors experienced in the modalities of
online instruction and with instructional designers.

When actually setting about the design of
the first hybrid/blended instruction class it might be best to begin
with placing in the classroom those aspects considered most critical and
in need of direct supervision and involvement of the instructor.
This would mean that in most cases the actual vision of information
about the class and its content would be placed in the online component
while all other aspects would remain in the classroom.

Route Two to Blended Instruction: from
Asynchronous (fully online) to Blended (partly online)

If the instructor has already succeeded in
placing an entire class into the asynchronous mode of instruction with
no face to face meetings then the move toward a hybrid or blended mode
might appear to be fairly easy. This may not always be the case.
The instructor has established that the learning objectives can be
achieved without face to face meetings. Why then have such meetings?
The answers to this questions are manifold having to do with the nature
of the learners, the setting for instruction, the progression of the
instructor, curricular revisions and on. Whatever the answer, the
decision needs to be made as to what portions of the instructional
program to place back into the classroom component of the blended class.
The answer should be related to the the answer to the previous question.
The instructor might want to place some of the instruction into the
classroom because there are a different group of learners in need of
more direct supervisions and guidance. Then what is placed into
the classroom would be those portions where such attention would most be
needed.

Route Three to Blended
Instruction: from Web-Assisted to Blended (partly online)

If the instructor has been providing
information related to the class by means of a website created for that
purpose then the instructor has become familiar with the effectiveness
of that mode for transmitting information to the learners related to the
course and to the contents of instruction. The next step might be
to consider placing all of the instruction into the online component of
the hybrid or blended class reserving for the class room space the
activities requiring the close attention of the instructor and perhaps
activities involving collaborative learning such as group work and
problem based learning exercises. The classroom might also be the
space in which to carry out assessments.

End Note:

Whatever the decisions made and the instructional design the actual
proof of its efficacy is in the testing: the teaching. Thus, what
should be evident is the importance of the assessment of the
instructional design by the instructor, the learners, instructional
design assistants and, recommended if available, by peers with
experience in the modality of instruction. As with all instruction the
professional educator is going to monitor the efficacy of instruction in
order to find ways to improve upon it from one term to another. Hybrid or
blended instruction is no different from other modes of instruction in
this regard: whatever the design, it is a work-in-progress.

A Review of Recent Research Reveals Three Areas That Can Enlighten
Current Online Learning Practices

Recently, I set out to find an answer to the question of what current
research was saying about how, if at all, the Web impacted student
learning. My recently released monograph, Quality in Distance Education:
Focus on Online Learning, is a compilation of more than 100 studies
drawn from several online journals, conference Web sites, as well as
some interesting sites maintained by associations and institutions. (The
one maintained by the Asynchronous Learning Networks organization at

www.aln.org
is an especially rich source of studies.) One of the unintended lessons
learned from this project was discovering how easy it is to locate good
research on the Web and how many studies there actually are. My search
focused on current research and studies - usually no earlier than the
mid-1990s - completed on college students. I think many of the findings
also will be applicable to K-12 students. In any case, the search sent
me on a circuitous route to a number of answers, some of which I think
are very sound and will stand up over time, while others are more
tentative, although intriguing.

Anyone who has been around distance education for a while is familiar
with the compilation of 355 research studies by Thomas L. Russell of
North Carolina State University (1999), who coined the phrase, "no
significant differences phenomenon." Many of the studies in Russell's
report were comparison studies, comparing the new mode of education - be
it telecourse, interactive video or satellite -with traditional
education. Subsequent writers have faulted these studies for poor
research design and inadequate controls, a naive understanding of what
affects learning, and a lack of recognition that online students are
different from their on-campus counterparts.

Therefore, it may surprise you to know that more than 30 of the
studies I found were a comparison of Web-based courses against
traditional ones. Better studies have been done, of course, some of them
attempting to repair the deficiencies of earlier research, while others
opt for a case study approach to Web-based learning. While it is
difficult to summarize all of the findings, there are three areas of the
studies worth mentioning:

The role of individual differences;

Instructional design; and

Specific skills that are enhanced by online environments.

Individual Differences

No educator will be especially surprised to learn that success in a
Web-based learning environment is heavily influenced by what the student
brings to the learning situation. There is evidence that students with
certain learning styles (e.g., visual) or behavioral types (e.g.,
independent) do learn better in the Web environment. Conversely, aural,
dependent and more passive learners may not do as well. It is this sort
of insight that leads some to propose that the potential for maximal
learning results when instructional approaches are matched to student
learning styles and are supported by appropriate technologies.

Furthermore, students with a high motivation to learn, greater
self-regulating behavior, and the belief they can learn online do
better; as do students with the necessary computer skills. These are not
particularly profound insights, although they do tend to explain why
online learning will work as well as other forms of education for good
students, but may not work as well for students who struggle because of
a lack of motivation or self-confidence.

Interestingly, gender differences appear in online exchanges just as
they would in regular situations. Based on content analyses of exchanges
in Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN) courses, Blum (1999) found
differences in male and female messages that mirror traditional
face-to-face communication. Males were more likely to control online
discussions, post more questions, express more certainty in their
opinions and were more concrete. Whereas females were more empathetic,
polite and agreeable. The females also supplied the niceties that
maintain relationships such as "please" and "thank you." This finding
may only indicate that we take our normal personalities, judgments and
beliefs about others into the online setting. In other words, we are
consistent in our online interactions, despite expressing ourselves in a
different form.

There is another interesting development along generational lines.
Now, it's true that students are arriving at college with greater
abilities in online learning and an expectation to learn that way. But,
what is even more intriguing is that these students also arrive with
brains that are more likely to have been shaped by very visual, rapid
movement, hypertexted environments (Healy 1998). This has led some to
suggest that these younger brains are different from those of faculty,
who are more likely to have brains formed by reading - a largely linear
and slow activity.

Our brains may also be the reason why we can become so involved with
our computers. As a result of 35 laboratory studies, Reeves and Nass
(1996) concluded that it is the psychology of the relationship between
us and the computer that is important, not the fact that one member of
this so-called relationship is a piece of technology. They came to this
conclusion after experiments where subjects were asked by the computer
to critique its work. Subjects responded politely and seemed not to want
to hurt the computer's feelings. But, when asked by one computer to
critique another's work, subjects were more likely to offer criticism.

Asked to explain their behavior, subjects said they knew the
difference between a computer and a person, and argued vehemently that
technology is a mere tool without feelings. Yet, their responses belied
an underlying belief that the computer is real, implying that the
relationship of humans to media may be unconscious and perhaps innate.
The authors hypothesize that this relationship may be due to the brain's
slow evolution over the ages, as well as its inability to distinguish
between rapidly advancing media and real life.

In addition, if humans cannot distinguish between computers and real
people, then this might imply that technology could not independently
influence the quality or quantity of learning. It would also argue that
failures of learning are more likely to be due to other factors, such as
inadequate instruction or a poor match between the individual and the
learning situation.

Instructional Design

If there is one major boon resulting from the advent of online
learning in colleges and universities, it is the renewed focus on
pedagogy and instructional design. Higher education faculty, who are
hired and trained for expertise in a discipline, are not trained in
these matters, and often adopt a teaching style that is either modeled
on how they were taught or how they prefer to learn. In any case,
introducing the Web into college teaching has generated an enormous
upswell of attention on the aims and various methods for achieving
student learning. I can say this without hesitation, having read several
articles by faculty who write about what they learned by using the Web,
what they learned about instruction and student learning, and how they
are translating their newfound knowledge to on-campus courses.

Much of the early research on Web-based learning focused on the
technology and ignored the instructional design imbedded in the course.
This is unfortunate, and has given people the impression that the Web
produced learning, when it is more likely to have resulted from the
instructional design and the pedagogies chosen to help students learn.
Smith and Dillon (1999) call this the "media/method confound," and it
continues to confuse researchers and practitioners alike. This is not to
say that unraveling the media and method - separating the effects of the
Web from its instructional uses - can be done; in fact, I found no such
research attempting to do this. Regardless, to say the Web affected
learning may be inappropriate unless the powerful effect of
instructional design has been isolated from the technology used to
deliver it.

However, if there is one strong area where the Web is used to
consistent effect, it is by making ample interaction feasible, including
students interacting with the course material, faculty or other experts,
as well as other students. This interaction, if consciously programmed
into the course, allows students to discuss ideas online, ask questions,
share information, tackle group projects, develop joint understandings
and even forge friendships. If someone complains that online learning is
passive, the problem isn't the Web, it is the use that is made of it.

There is growing work around whether e-learning communities can be
achieved and how. Palloff and Pratt (1999) provide an excellent primer
on how community may be defined and created online. And research about
online learning communities has followed. Wegerif (1998) found that the
ALN model increased interaction, self-discipline, a sense of community,
communication, reflection and shared space among students. Brown (2001)
describes a three-stage process by which a community is formed in a
computer-mediated asynchronous distance learning class:

Stage 1: Making friends

Stage 2: Community conferment or acceptance

Stage 3: Camaraderie

Each stage represents a greater degree of engagement "in both the
class and the dialogue" over the previous stages, and greater levels of
interpersonal bonding or affiliation. The consequences for students of
building community include improved confidence express-ing oneself,
learning from others, and feeling connected and accepted.

Improved Skills

The research conducted so far on Web-based learning has focused on
evidence of critical thinking and writing skills. While these two skills
are not solely or uniquely the result of Web environments (since you can
improve these skills by various means), it is good to know that the Web
supports the acquisition of these important skills.

To do this research, one method that may be especially useful for
analyzing online exchanges - be it a threaded discussion or chat - is
content analysis. Newman, Webb and Cochrane (1995) used content analysis
of online messages to look for critical thinking indicators in computer
conferences. They found that online students were more likely to make
important statements and link ideas, although they contributed fewer
novel ideas than the face-to-face comparison group. This may indicate
that online conversations are less suited to functions like
brainstorming, or that working online encourages respondents to work in
a more linear fashion by linking comments to earlier ideas.

Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2001) also looked at critical thinking
in computer-mediated communications using a four-stage analysis of the
critical-thinking process:

Triggering - posing the problem

Exploration - searching for information

Integration - construction of a possible solution

Resolution - critical assessment of the solution

Transcripts of online discussions were coded, resulting in 8% of the
responses coded as triggers, 42% as exploration, 13% as integration and
4% as resolution. The authors hypothesize that the low numbers for
integration and resolution were due to the need for students to take
more time to reflect on the problem, and that individuals were reluctant
to offer solutions that would be scorned by others in the class. The
opportunity for reflection is especially suited to asynchronous learning
environments, as well as for students whose learning styles require some
time and reflection to make sense of information.

There is also ample evidence from a variety of sources that suggests
having students work online improves writing skills. Wegerif's (1998)
study found that the ALN model improved writing skills by having
students write more and more often, as well as by increasing the public
visibility of student writing. (It is there for others - especially
their peers - to see and, presumably, critique.)

Being able to express one's personality, or "presence," is another
intriguing skill that may impact the creation of satisfactory learning
communities, and could become a necessary new skill for online
conversations. Certainly, with the loss of facial expressions, voice
intonations and gestures, important nonverbal meaning and shadings of
meaning are lost. Yet, there is evidence that a personal presence - as
captured by one's written expression - is important in Web-based
classes.

Gunawardena and Zittle (1997) found that "social presence" (i.e., the
degree to which a person is perceived as real in an online conversation)
is a strong predictor of satisfaction with computer-mediated
communications. Arbaugh (2001) calls this skill the production of
"immediacy behaviors," since they reduce the "social distance" between
teachers and students. In this study, these types of behaviors were
positive predictors of student learning and course satisfaction.

The issue of presence was also addressed in a study by Anderson et
al. (2001) that reviewed transcripts of course discussions held over
computer conferencing systems. The authors developed the concept of
"teaching presence," expressed by faculty comments, in three categories:

Design and organization ("This week we will discuss . . .");

Facilitating discourse ("I think we are getting off track"); and

Direct instruction ("Bates says . . .").

Faculty who are adept at expressing their unique personalities
through e-mail or other Web-based communications may be at an advantage
in connecting with students, which may help students bond to the
instructor or learning environment. This idea of presence may soon be a
skill not only well-suited to Web-based exchanges, but also a
requirement for student and faculty success in online coursework.

Looking for Answers

This is a good start on the research that is needed to ensure that
the Web is used effectively for student learning. However, there are
some holes in our understanding; not least of which is determining
whether and how the Web might have an independent effect on learning,
separate and apart from the instructional method imbedded in the
application. The focus of those who criticize using the Web in education
- worrying that technology may affect us negatively - is worth
addressing with well-designed research studies.

And if there are differences in effectiveness, can we determine as
Barbules and Callister (2000) put the challenge: "Which technologies
have educational potential for which students, for which subject
matters, and for which purposes?" In other words, is there an optimal
match possible between student, learning and technology? Furthermore, we
need to continue to collect good information on what works and why. This
is because answers to these questions will likely be more helpful to
educators than asking whether or not the Web affects learning, which
presumes that it can and does, and initiates a search for answers to the
wrong question.